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FAYETTEVILLE — Despite several universities across the country and their athletic departments facing a financial strain, Arkansas has managed to avoid furloughs and salary cuts through more than two months of the coronavirus shutdown.
The same can not be said for even the Razorbacks’ neighbors directly to the north, as five Missouri head coaches - including football’s Eliah Drinkwitz - and the Tigers’ athletics director are taking salary cuts for three months this summer to lessen the school’s financial burden.
Other schools, like Boise State, have made similar moves, with some smaller programs even eliminating some sports.
In a Zoom videoconference with local media Wednesday, Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek credited his predecessors and the department as a whole for putting aside enough reserves to cover any shortfalls they experienced this fiscal year.
It also helps that the Razorbacks’ baseball program is one of only a handful in the country that actually makes money for the department. Most schools rely on football and men’s basketball for revenue.
“The baseball program at most schools does not generate revenue,” Yurachek said. “Our baseball program generates a significant amount of revenue through ticket sales, concessions, sponsorship sales, etc., so we’ve been able to overcome some things mainly because of the reserves.”
As far as this coming year is concerned, Yurachek said the Board of Trustees has approved the balanced budget the school submitted last week. However, it included a full football, basketball and baseball season.
If those sports don’t happen or are altered in any way, the Razorbacks would need to account for a shortfall. At the moment, though, they are still planning on being at full capacity for football season this fall.
